Numbers, Notoriety, and Building the Classic Roster
The end of August brought many things to light here at Visit Anderson. Here at home, closing out August meant we were on the cusp of Celebrate Anderson, which is an annual Labor Day Weekend event here in Anderson County featuring hot air balloons, live music, and lots of fun. It typically means Fall is nearby; however, you wouldn’t know it this week as daily temps have moved north of 100* in the afternoons.
On August 31st, our Social Media Manager shared that we were officially 200 days from the fifth Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell. This post alone created excitement and anxiety for our team responsible for hosting the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing in less than 200 days.
The end of August also brought the conclusion of the 2026 Bassmaster Elite Series campaign with the final event at the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York where careers were closed out, hardware was handed out, and the Classic roster began taking shape.
Mike Iaconelli closed out a career that spans more than three decades when he announced his retirement from professional bass fishing. Ike, a Bass Fishing Hall of Famer, Bassmaster Classic Champion, Angler of the Year, and B.A.S.S. Nation Champion will be missed as he leaves a legendary mark on the sport. Ike is the only professional angler to fish a Classic and qualify to fish in the Bassmaster Kayak Championship, which took place during the Classic, in 2022, when he fished the Kayak Championship on nearby Lake Russell.
Mark Menendez was among nine anglers that failed to requalify for the Bassmaster Elite Series at the conclusion of the St. Lawrence event. Menendez, who has fished more than 300 B.A.S.S. events in his career, announced his retirement on stage. The Kentucky angler made a significant impact on the sport through his many conservation efforts.
The conclusion of the Bassmaster Elite Series season saw the end of a streak as it relates to the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell. Three anglers, John Crews, Greg Hackney, and Gerald Swindle, failed to punch their tickets to Lake Hartwell. These are the only three anglers to have fished the previous four Classics at Lake Hartwell.
On a much happier note, three anglers left the St. Lawrence River with some hardware and will be among the 58 anglers competing for the most coveted trophy in professional bass fishing. Trey McKinney won the Bassmaster Angler of the Year. Caleb Hudson, from the Clarks Hill area, won the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year. Hudson has history on Lake Hartwell as a high school and junior angler. Evan Kung won the St. Lawrence River Elite that came with an automatic Classic qualification. Interesting note for Kung, he had to win the St. Lawrence River event to make the Classic, and he dropped over 100 pounds of smallmouth bass in four days to secure his place in the March event.
The Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell will feature 58 anglers. In all, 50 of those seats have been filled. The remaining eight will be filled in the upcoming EQ’s, the College Cup, the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, and Bassmaster Team Championship.
Dylan Nutt, reigning Bassmaster Classic Champion, has secured his seat at Lake Hartwell. I try and refrain from noting that Nutt will be defending his title yet pursuing another one instead. As mentioned above, Evan Kung has entered the chat by winning the final Elite Series event at the St. Lawrence River.
The Bassmaster Opens, in eight regular season events, punched three tickets to the Classic. Cody Stahl, Wyatt Burkhalter, and Michael Harlin will be representing the Opens in the Classic at Lake Hartwell. Remember, as an Opens angler, you must fish all the Opens in your division to secure the Classic qualification with an Opens win. Since five of the Opens winners failed to do so, those five seats went back to the Elites and allowed guys like David Mullins, Emil Wagner, Carl Jocumsen, Austin Felix, and Tucker Smith were to make it back in the Classic conversation.
These five anglers above, along with the Top 40 in AOY points, represent 45 of the 58 tickets punched thus far. Add in the Classic Champ, St. Lawrence Champ, and three Opens winners, and we have our 50 seats filled.
The Bassmaster EQ’s will give us three more seats. Should an EQ winner come from the 50 seats that are already filled, B.A.S.S. will work down a list of three seats that include Bryan Schmitt, Drew Benton, and Hunter Shryock.
The Bassmaster College Cup will give us a seat that will represent the Bassmaster College Series. There are a couple of college anglers competing among the seven anglers in that Cup event that have extensive experience on Lake Hartwell.
The B.A.S.S. Nation Championship will place the top three finishers in the Classic. The Nation Championship, which will take place at Lake Hartwell in mid-November, proved to be the launch pad for Dylan Nutt to get in the Knoxville Classic that he won.
The last and final seat in the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell will be filled in early December at Grand Lake in Oklahoma where the Bassmaster Team Champion will be crowned.
That is how the roster will be set for the Classic. The Classic field features five Classic Champions…. Nutt, Jordan Lee, Gussy, Jason Christie, and Easton Fothergill. Lee and Christie both won Classics at Lake Hartwell. Fothergill calls Lake Hartwell his favorite lake in the country.
We’re less the 200 days out. Can’t wait!